Four American states are currently operating Internet registries on which are listed the names of people convicted of making or selling methamphetamines, while six others are considering the ploy.
In 2003 Montana created a meth offender registry, followed within the last 18 months by Tennessee, Minnesota and Illinois. The Tennessee registry lists over 400 methamphetamine offenders, and officials say the list helps warn property owners against renting or selling to people with previous convictions for this offence.
Registries generally include the offenders names, date of birth, offences and location of conviction. Similar to sex offender lists, the only difference is that photos or addresses are omitted.
The US Supreme Court has already upheld the legality of sex offender registries. Any challenge to the legality of these new drug offence registries will hang on whether the threat posed by meth offenders to the public is judged to be as great as that of sex offenders.
There are other concerns however. Graham Boyd, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Drug Policy Litigation Unit pointed out that states thinking of setting up meth offender registries should consider the practical implications: One group for whom this registry is going to be an incredibly good resource is people looking to buy methamphetamine, he said.
Source: www.jointogether.org
Posted: 30th August 2006
